Melissotarsus

is surely among the most unusual ants. These small Afrotropical myrmicines live in narrow galleries in the bark of particular tree species where they farm armored scale insects. Melissotarsus may be the only animal other than humans to have domesticated livestock for meat production. Ants of this genus are also unusual in that the adults spin silk, produced in glands in the head, to seal the nest entrances.